This ‘Practice to the Clouds’ Rail Journey Is One of many Highest Practice Routes within the World

Within the lesser-visited northwestern nook of Argentina, the place the excessive desert meets the Andes mountains, a historic practice travels 13,850 ft above sea degree. The practice, which is the third highest practice route on the planet, zigzags up steep mountain terrain, passing over 29 bridges and thru 21 tunnels on a rugged, mountainous route.

Tren a las Nubes, or Practice to the Clouds, is simply that — a journey up the mountains and into the clouds.

The unique function of the practice, which took 27 years to finish and remains to be thought of to be a feat of engineering, was to attach Argentina and Chile through the Andes. In 1972, it started working as a vacationer practice, showcasing the mountainous desert of northwestern Argentina. It is without doubt one of the few remaining passenger trains in Argentina. 

The practice is a three-hour roundtrip journey from the tiny city of San Antonio de los Cobres. The tough half, as a passenger, is that San Antonio de los Cobres is distant and laborious to entry. It sits 12,385 ft above sea degree and requires a three-hour drive from the neighboring metropolis of Salta.

To get to the San Antonio de los Cobres practice station, you’ve got three choices: hire a automotive, guide a taxi, or take a bus. The journey by automotive or taxi is three hours, whereas the bus takes 5 hours. (The bus leaves Salta at 7 a.m. and makes stops at varied websites alongside the best way. This consists of Campo Quijano, a city generally known as “the portal of the Andes,” and the colourful Yacoraite Geological Formation.)

Both means, everybody meets on the San Antonio de los Cobres practice station for the thrice-weekly midday departure of the Tren a las Nubes.

Upon arrival in San Antonio de los Cobres, passengers board the practice and start the ascent into the clouds. By means of the massive home windows on both facet of the practice, vacationers can watch the otherworldly reddish-orange panorama cross, a excessive desert lined in native cacti and quinoa vegetation. The spotlight of the practice journey is the crossing of the Viaducto la Polvorilla, a viaduct that stretches 735 ft over a valley, with a drop of over 200 ft. It additionally marks the very best level of the journey, at an elevation of 13,850 ft above sea degree. 

Shortly after crossing the viaduct, the practice turns round and returns to San Antonio de los Cobres. The bus meets the practice, taking vacationers again to Salta. Because of the dramatic elevation change, medical help (and oxygen canisters) can be found on the bus and practice. 

The complete expertise, which incorporates the bus trip to and from Salta, takes round 13 hours. Ticket costs fluctuate by date, however sometimes value between $130 and $170 for the total bus and practice tour, and between $80 and $110 for simply the practice trip.